There are many different circumstances where it is desired to bend a malleable metal rod. Several examples include the bending of wrought iron rod for constructing railings, fences, grates, and the like, and the bending of reinforcing bar--commonly known as rebar--used in poured concrete structures. Other examples may include the requirement to bend steel bar or rod which is used to support or suspend structures, false ceilings, display signs, and so on. In all of these circumstances--and many others--it is very often desirable to bend the malleable metal rod at the actual job site. Moreover, even when working in a shop, such as a shop which provides wrought iron structures, the requirements for bending each individual piece of wrought iron rod may be different, thereby necessitating a different set up for the malleable metal rod being bent at any instant in time.
It is also quite important that the malleable metal rod which is being bent may be bent through more than 90.degree.. This criterion, however, is very often not met in the prior art, discussed hereafter.
Other circumstances where rod bending may be required at the job site, with very particular accuracy, is in surgical operating rooms where orthopaedic surgery is being conducted. Very often, there may be the necessity to bend surgical steel rod with complicated configurations, having specific dimensions, and with significant time constraints--especially considering that, at any instant in time, the patient may already have been anaesthetized.
In any of those circumstances which are suggested above, a manually operated apparatus for bending malleable metal rods may serve the purposes required very easily. The advantages may include the fact that an apparatus which is intended to be manually operated is less expensive in terms of its capital acquisition, and it is does not require additional sources of power such as electricity or hydraulic power. Moreover, portability of such an apparatus is most often required so that it may be moved from job site to job site, or from one work area to another on a very large job site.
The present invention provides such an apparatus which is portable and which is manually operated. The apparatus of the present invention may be easily manipulated to bend malleable metal rods with very complicated configurations. Moreover, it is very simple and quick to learn how to operate the apparatus of the present invention, so that any reasonably skilled worker may be trained to operate the apparatus of the present invention in a short period of time.
Other typical malleable metal rod materials which are particularly adapted for use with the present apparatus, apart from rebar, wrought iron, or surgical steel rod, include ordinary mild steel rod, brass rod, aluminum rod, copper rod, and so on. Such rods are usually round or rectangular in cross-section; rectangular rod is usually square in cross-section. Obviously, especially since the present invention is directed to a manually operated device, bar stock or rod stock made from such materials as case-hardened steel is not suitable to be bent using the apparatus of the present invention. Indeed, such materials are usually bent before they are case-hardened; in which case, they can be bent using the apparatus of the present invention.